The Distracted Dreamer

Carlene Bauwens
  • 5.0 (19)
  • SELF-IMPROVEMENT
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Get ready to confidently and unapologetically go after dreams! Welcome to The Distracted Dreamer Podcast. Today is the day you’re going to pull your dreams off the shelf and bring them to the forefront of your life. You are never too tired, too busy, too old, too young, too anything to pursue your dreams. Imagine… the joy and excitement of doing what lights you up. Your dreams are yours. No one gets to take them from you and no one gets to chase them - except you. Your dreams are there to guide you, to inspire you and to show you that yes, there is something more in store for you. You see, the size of your dreams don’t matter - it could be running a marathon, reading a book series, perfecting that family recipe, traveling the world, or learning to dance. I’m Carlene Bauwens, entrepreneur,  Life Coach and now host of The Distracted Dreamer podcast. I’m here to show you how to kick distraction to the curb and grab hold of your dreams. Your happiness matters. You have a big, beautiful, amazing life to live. And you've only got one of them. Welcome to the Distracted Dreamer Podcast.

  1. 1D AGO

    #78: Why You Feel Lonely Even When You're Constantly "Talking" to People — And the One Thing That Fixes It

    Send Carlene a text or voicemail You're texting. You're in the group chat. You're sending the memes and the voice notes and the "thinking of you" messages. So why do you still feel so lonely? That's exactly what listener Theresa asked — and honestly, it stopped me cold. Because she's not wrong. We have more ways to reach people than ever before, and yet so many of us feel more disconnected than we ever have. In this episode, we're talking about the difference between contact and connection — why they are not the same thing, what real presence actually does for your relationships, and the one simple shift that changes everything. Because you're not doing it wrong. You're just missing something nobody told you about. 3 KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE 1️⃣ Contact keeps you in touch. Connection is what fills you back up — and they require very different things. 2️⃣ The loneliness you feel isn't about how often you reach out — it's about how you're reaching out. 3️⃣ You don't need permission to call someone. You never did. DOWNLOAD THE FREE START DREAMING AGAIN GUIDE Check out all my coaching and course offerings - Coachcarlene.com MORE FROM ME Follow me on Instagram:  @coach_carlene SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps me reach more dreamers who need these insights. 🎙️ Thanks for tuning in to the Distracted Dreamer Podcast! See you next week! FOLLOW NOW Also, if you haven't done so already, follow the podcast. I'm adding episodes every week, and if you're not folllowing, there's a good chance you'll miss out. Follow now! Episode Website

    12 min

  2. APR 27

    #77: Shiny Object Syndrome in Midlife: Is It ADHD, Hormones, or Both?

    Send Carlene a text or voicemail Is it ADHD? Is it menopause? Is it just… you? If you're a woman in midlife who's suddenly drowning in ideas, can't finish the thing you just started, and keeps getting pulled down rabbit holes you didn't plan to go down — first of all, you are not alone. And second — there's actually a really good explanation for what's happening. This episode is inspired by a question from a listener in our Dream Studio community. We're talking about shiny object syndrome — what it is, why your brain does it, and why it might be getting louder in this season of your life.  We cover the brain science (I promise to keep it interesting), the ADHD and hormonal layers that nobody's connecting for you, and real strategies for managing the distraction without losing the creative spark that makes you, you.  And we wrap it up with a conversation about play. What it looks like when you're 50, not five. Why it's so uncomfortable at first. And why making a playdate with yourself — or someone who gets you — might be the thing your dream has needed all along. 3 key takeaways from this episode: Shiny object syndrome is your brain scanning for dopamine — not a sign that something is wrong with you.The drop in estrogen during menopause takes dopamine with it — and that's why so many women in midlife are suddenly flooded with ideas they can't catch, focus they can't find, and a brain that feels like it belongs to someone else.Play isn't something you earn after the real work is done. It's actually how your brain breathes life into your dreams — and most of us have forgotten how to do it.Resources mentioned:  CHADD — chadd.org  Episode 49: Is It ADHD or Menopause? (And What It Means for Breast Cancer Survivors)  Check out Dream Studio Here DOWNLOAD THE FREE START DREAMING AGAIN GUIDE Check out all my coaching and course offerings - Coachcarlene.com MORE FROM ME Follow me on Instagram:  @coach_carlene SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps me reach more dreamers who need these insights. 🎙️ Thanks for tuning in to the Distracted Dreamer Podcast! See you next week! FOLLOW NOW Also, if you haven't done so already, follow the podcast. I'm adding episodes every week, and if you're not folllowing, there's a good chance you'll miss out. Follow now! Episode Website

    20 min

  3. APR 20

    #76: Debunking the 10-step morning routine — and what to do instead

    Send Carlene a text or voicemail Someone out there is selling you a 10-step morning routine. Wake up at 5am. Meditate. Journal. Cold plunge. Green smoothie. Visualize your goals. Maybe you've tried it. Maybe it lasted four days. Here's the truth: you don't need a perfect morning. You need a morning that belongs to you. In this episode I'm calling out the 10-step morning routine for what it is — noise — and sharing the five things I do every single morning that take just minutes but change everything about how my day goes. Plus the science behind why they actually work. Simple. Honest. Actually doable. ✨ 3 Key Take Aways From This Episode:  1️⃣ Your cortisol wakes you up every morning — but deep breathing is one of the simplest ways to keep the excess at bay before the day even starts.  2️⃣ Not looking at your phone first thing isn't just a good habit — it's the difference between starting your day on your terms and starting it on everyone else's.  3️⃣ This season is about letting go of what isn't serving you. Your morning is a great place to start. DOWNLOAD THE FREE START DREAMING AGAIN GUIDE Check out all my coaching and course offerings - Coachcarlene.com MORE FROM ME Follow me on Instagram:  @coach_carlene SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps me reach more dreamers who need these insights. 🎙️ Thanks for tuning in to the Distracted Dreamer Podcast! See you next week! FOLLOW NOW Also, if you haven't done so already, follow the podcast. I'm adding episodes every week, and if you're not folllowing, there's a good chance you'll miss out. Follow now! Episode Website

    18 min

  4. APR 13

    #75: "Why Would She Want to Hear from Me?" Why Women in Midlife Stop Reaching Out — And How to Start Again

    Send Carlene a text or voicemail Somewhere between the kids leaving, the career shifting, and the pandemic teaching us that staying home was actually fine — a lot of us stopped reaching out. One un-sent text at a time. Tomorrow we tell ourselves. Tomorrow, I'll reach out. Just like our dreams, we file it away under "someday" — and someday is not a day on the calendar. In this episode, I'm talking about why connection gets so hard in midlife specifically — and why the reason isn't what most of us think it is. It's not that we're too busy. It's not that we're introverted. It's a much quieter voice that says: why would she want to hear from me? I'm sharing stories from my own life about the people I almost kept at arm's length, the excuses I made that sound logical and were completely wrong, and what finally changed. And I'm sharing the science behind why one small act of reaching out this week could start rewiring everything. 3 KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE The social scaffolding that used to hold our friendships together has quietly disappeared — and nobody warns you it's happeningAssuming everyone else already has their people is the fastest way to guarantee your own isolationReaching out in small, low-stakes moments is how you rewire the pattern — one rep at a timeIt's time to stop taking ourselves out of the friendship equation before we ever give others a chance. DOWNLOAD THE FREE START DREAMING AGAIN GUIDE Check out all my coaching and course offerings - Coachcarlene.com MORE FROM ME Follow me on Instagram:  @coach_carlene SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps me reach more dreamers who need these insights. 🎙️ Thanks for tuning in to the Distracted Dreamer Podcast! See you next week! FOLLOW NOW Also, if you haven't done so already, follow the podcast. I'm adding episodes every week, and if you're not folllowing, there's a good chance you'll miss out. Follow now! Episode Website

    20 min

  5. APR 6

    #74: Why You Feel "Meh": The 4-Step Framework to Finally Fix It

    Send Carlene a text or voicemail Have you ever made a promise to yourself that you'd do something important… and then avoided it? The truth is, every time we say something matters and don't act on it, we erode our confidence. Do it long enough and you stop trusting yourself. What if the reason you can't seem to follow through has nothing to do with discipline, motivation, or willpower — and everything to do with your identity? In this episode, I'm sharing a 4-step identity alignment framework — originally developed around money mindset and adapted here for women in midlife — that explains why so many of us feel stuck, scattered, and disconnected from our dreams.  Whether you're rediscovering who you are after years of pouring into everyone else, navigating a major life transition, or simply tired of saying "someday" — this framework is the missing piece. ✨ KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE: That "meh" disconnected feeling isn't a mood — it's a sign there's a gap between how you live each day and your valuesYour confidence isn't gone, it's overdrawn — and you can start making deposits todayChange your language from "I want" to "I will" and you move from wishing to choosing who you are becomingWhen you start behaving like the person you're becoming, you will start to see a more confident you in the mirrorConsistency doesn't mean perfect — it means showing up the day after you didn't🎧 Grab your coffee, find a quiet corner, and let's get into it. DOWNLOAD THE FREE START DREAMING AGAIN GUIDE Check out all my coaching and course offerings - Coachcarlene.com MORE FROM ME Follow me on Instagram:  @coach_carlene SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps me reach more dreamers who need these insights. 🎙️ Thanks for tuning in to the Distracted Dreamer Podcast! See you next week! FOLLOW NOW Also, if you haven't done so already, follow the podcast. I'm adding episodes every week, and if you're not folllowing, there's a good chance you'll miss out. Follow now! Episode Website

    24 min

  6. MAR 30

    #73: How to Lead Yourself Through Midlife — and Why the People You Love Need You To

    Send Carlene a text or voicemail We don't talk about this enough: the years after raising kids, after caregiving, after decades of showing up for everyone else — those years are not the winding down. They are not the epilogue. They are a new chapter opening, and it might just be the most powerful one of your life. You are not who you were in your thirties. You are wiser. You have less patience for what doesn't matter and more clarity about what does. You've lived through enough to know that time is not infinite — and that is not a sad thing. That is a clarifying thing. So what are you going to do with that clarity? That's what this episode is about. I walk you through what it really means to lead yourself in this season: claiming your dreams, advocating for your health, and showing up as the woman you've been becoming all along. You’ll learn three simple daily practices to start leading your own life on purpose, starting today, because someday is now. 💡 KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE:  1️⃣ What self-leadership actually looks like when your body, your dreams, and your identity are all shifting at once 2️⃣ The clarity you've earned through everything you've lived? That's your superpower. 3️⃣ When you choose yourself in this season, the people watching you learn what's possible — that's a legacy DOWNLOAD THE FREE START DREAMING AGAIN GUIDE Check out all my coaching and course offerings - Coachcarlene.com MORE FROM ME Follow me on Instagram:  @coach_carlene SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps me reach more dreamers who need these insights. 🎙️ Thanks for tuning in to the Distracted Dreamer Podcast! See you next week! FOLLOW NOW Also, if you haven't done so already, follow the podcast. I'm adding episodes every week, and if you're not folllowing, there's a good chance you'll miss out. Follow now! Episode Website

    27 min

  7. MAR 23

    #72: Feeling Lost? How to Recalibrate What You’ve Outgrown

    Send Carlene a text or voicemail Lately, I’ve been thinking about how easy it is to keep living a life that no longer fits… just because it once did. I’m talking about that moment when you realize you don’t want what you used to want—and how unsettling that can feel. But also? How powerful it can be. In this episode, I’m sharing what it looks like to outgrow parts of your life—and how to recalibrate without burning everything down, including: The subtle ways we stay stuck in old patterns—and how to let go of outdated expectationsHow to become an observer of your own life and recognize where you’re still living like your past selfHow to uncover the hidden space and energy you didn’t realize you hadSometimes, the problem isn’t that you’re lost… It’s that you’ve changed—you’re evolving, and your life hasn’t caught up yet. And this next version of your life? You get to shape it—through small, intentional steps toward a life that actually reflects who you are now. 3 Key Takeaways from this episode: ✨ Feeling “off” is often a signal that something is ready to shift ✨ When you become an observer of your life, you uncover powerful data showing you where to recalibrate ✨ The life you built isn’t wrong… there just might be pieces that don’t fit anymore DOWNLOAD THE FREE START DREAMING AGAIN GUIDE Check out all my coaching and course offerings - Coachcarlene.com MORE FROM ME Follow me on Instagram:  @coach_carlene SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps me reach more dreamers who need these insights. 🎙️ Thanks for tuning in to the Distracted Dreamer Podcast! See you next week! FOLLOW NOW Also, if you haven't done so already, follow the podcast. I'm adding episodes every week, and if you're not folllowing, there's a good chance you'll miss out. Follow now! Episode Website

    19 min

  8. MAR 16

    #71: The Tiny Winks You're Missing: How Life Quietly Supports You

    Send Carlene a text or voicemail What if life is quietly supporting you… and you’re just too busy to see it?  In this episode of The Distracted Dreamer, I’m sharing a few recent moments that felt like tiny “winks” — the kind of perfectly timed experiences that remind you you’re not navigating life alone.  Because sometimes the invitation, the connection, or the guidance we need is already right in front of us.  We just have to slow down enough to notice.  KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE  1️⃣ Trust and connection grow when you believe you’re not doing life alone  2️⃣ We’re wired to notice problems but often overlook the good placed in front of us  3️⃣ Support can show up in the most unexpected ways Life might be supporting you more than you realize. The question is: are you noticing? DOWNLOAD THE FREE START DREAMING AGAIN GUIDE Check out all my coaching and course offerings - Coachcarlene.com MORE FROM ME Follow me on Instagram:  @coach_carlene SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps me reach more dreamers who need these insights. 🎙️ Thanks for tuning in to the Distracted Dreamer Podcast! See you next week! FOLLOW NOW Also, if you haven't done so already, follow the podcast. I'm adding episodes every week, and if you're not folllowing, there's a good chance you'll miss out. Follow now! Episode Website

    15 min
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About

Get ready to confidently and unapologetically go after dreams! Welcome to The Distracted Dreamer Podcast. Today is the day you’re going to pull your dreams off the shelf and bring them to the forefront of your life. You are never too tired, too busy, too old, too young, too anything to pursue your dreams. Imagine… the joy and excitement of doing what lights you up. Your dreams are yours. No one gets to take them from you and no one gets to chase them - except you. Your dreams are there to guide you, to inspire you and to show you that yes, there is something more in store for you. You see, the size of your dreams don’t matter - it could be running a marathon, reading a book series, perfecting that family recipe, traveling the world, or learning to dance. I’m Carlene Bauwens, entrepreneur,  Life Coach and now host of The Distracted Dreamer podcast. I’m here to show you how to kick distraction to the curb and grab hold of your dreams. Your happiness matters. You have a big, beautiful, amazing life to live. And you've only got one of them. Welcome to the Distracted Dreamer Podcast.

Information

  • Creator
    Carlene Bauwens
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    79
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Coach Carlene
  • Show Website
    The Distracted Dreamer